


Operation: JaeJae Ship is a Go!

by ravenborough



Series: Everyone's either working or in college [3]
Category: GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Fluff, I'm still bad at titles I'm very sorry, M/M, jinyoung is angery, mentions of another fic but you don't need to read it to understand this one, teeny-tiny angst, they get together through the help of friendship!, yugyeom is confused
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-29
Updated: 2020-04-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:47:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23916271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ravenborough/pseuds/ravenborough
Summary: It’s been about ten or so minutes and Jackson hasn’t come back from wherever he went off to call the hyungs, Yugyeom wants to go home and wallow at his all-around singleness and unwillingness to date because of some weird thing he feels around Jinyoung (love, he’s in love and he can never admit it and will gladly drop dead with this secret forever in his brain), Bambam looks somewhat worried for his best friend but also there’s an evil glint in his eye that worries Yugyeom a little—actually a lot—and of course there’s Youngjae and Jinyoung that seem like they’re three inches away from getting married.OrJingyeom happens when GOT7 tries to set Jaebeom and Youngjae up.
Relationships: Kim Yugyeom/Park Jinyoung, mentioned Choi Youngjae/Im Jaebum | JB
Series: Everyone's either working or in college [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1179893
Comments: 4
Kudos: 82





	Operation: JaeJae Ship is a Go!

**Author's Note:**

> Hellooo!! Quarantine is really giving me time to write fics again hahaha
> 
> YES. i know i have a lot of unfinished fics (they're not abandoned, istg... i'm having a lot of trouble with writing them. i keep changing decisions and my mind is very chaotic lol but i will get to them i WILL finish them!) but here! Have an unofficial sequel to another fic of mine called Jinyoung's Problem... if you haven't read it and you wanna, i will link it here. but if you don't want to, it's also fine,, there's only like one or two lines that it contextualizes. this fic can stand on its own.
> 
> ANYWAY! Stream Not by the Moon, stay safe, stay at home if you can, wash your hands, and I hope you enjoy! :))
> 
> Jinyoung's Problem: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17173748/chapters/40379129

Classes can be such a hassle sometimes, especially the ones where he doesn’t actually get to dance. Yugyeom’s pretty close to dozing off and sleeping the rest of the lecture away when he feels someone tap his shoulder.

He looks to his right and his eyes widen as he sees Bambam sitting next to him, smiling cheekily.

That’s strange, the only shared class they have is a minor in English and he’s pretty sure this is a lecture on the History of Western Dances.

“Bammie.” His voice sounds a little rough so he clears his throat. “What are you doing here?”

His best friend shrugs his shoulders and leans back on his seat, staring straight at the professor.

“I was bored so I thought I’d crash one of your classes,” he says.

“How’d you even know what class I was in?”

“Jeongguk told me you guys had the same class today,” he nonchalantly replies to him.

Bambam then points behind them and two rows back, he sees Jeongguk fiddling with his phone and whispering something to Minghao who looked just as uninterested about the man next to him as Yugyeom is about this whole lecture.

Yugyeom’s eyes meet the man who tattled on his schedule and Jeongguk smiles so widely at him, his two front teeth in full view, that he couldn’t help but smile back at the other man. Minghao notices their exchange and nods at him in greeting, Yugyeom also doing the same.

He turns back around to see the white-haired man next to him, discreetly covering his phone underneath the desk and is probably texting other people. Yugyeom knows he has class today because he always gets flooded with messages on Wednesdays like this, Bambam’s least favorite class is on this day.

“Bammie,” he calls the other man, Bambam slightly leaning to his best friend’s side to indicate that he heard him even if his eyes are still glued to his phone. “Don’t you have classes around this time too?”

“Yup.”

“You don’t plan on going?”

“Nah, it’s boring lecture stuff just like this…” he moves his free hand to gesture around them, eyes still glued to whatever chat he’s opened on his phone.

A part of him thinks that he should reprimand his best friend for skipping classes again because he’s bored. He probably should lecture him on the concept of getting good grades to reach his full potential and get good jobs or something, but he doesn’t think Bambam ever listens to him.

He hums in acknowledgment of the silver-haired boy’s answer as he starts leaning back on his seat, trying to feel less sleepy as he starts listening to his teacher drone on.

Not even five minutes after their last conversation, Bambam starts poking him on the arm.

“Yugyeom…” he whispers next to him. Yugyeom rolls his shoulder and tries to ignore his friend as he tries—but ultimately fails—in concentrating on what the professor is talking about.

Bambam is relentless though, poking his arm, neck, cheek, whatever he could reach as he calls him softly, “Yugyeom, Yugs, Yugy, Gyeommie, Yugyeommie…”

The white-haired man moves to poke the side of his nose but Yugyeom was fast enough to swat his finger away, causing the other man to bite his lip as he tries to not whimper in pain.

“That hurt…”

Yugyeom rolls his eyes. “Stop being annoying.”

“But we gotta go,” his best friend full on whines this time, bumping his shoulder with the other man.

“Dude, I have class!” he whisper-shouts, eyeing the professor to see if she’s noticed their commotion. Thankfully, she’s still unaware of their quiet argument.

This time, it’s Bambam who rolls his eyes. “If I leave you alone, I’m pretty sure you’re just gonna fall back asleep. Let’s just leave this stupid lecture and go to Def!”

Why would Bambam want to go there? “Why are we going to Jaebeom-hyung’s café?”

Bambam smirks, knowing that once his best friend is curious, he wouldn’t want to stay here and not know what’s going on.

“Let’s just go. I’ll tell you on the way.”

Yugyeom bites his lip, conflicted if he should stay or leave with his best friend. He knows Bambam is right. If he does leave without Yugyeom, he will fall asleep. He doesn’t even know what the professor is talking about anymore… but it’s the principle of the thing.

The white-haired man sighs at his friend’s indecision and grabs his backpack.

“Ah! Bambam!”

“Come on, we’re leaving.” Bambam ducks out as quietly as he came in, slinging Yugyeom’s backpack behind him.

The taller boy looks around to see everyone not paying them any attention, except Minghao who’s raised an eyebrow at him. He shrugs, trying to communicate how lost he is at his best friend’s behavior as well, before pocketing his phone and the pen he took out of his bag, and also ducking out and following his best friend exiting the lecture hall.

Once both of them were a couple of feet away from the room, Bambam throws his backpack to him and starts fiddling with his phone again.

“So…” Yugyeom starts, “why are we going to Def?”

“Jackson’s there.”

Yugyeom raises an eyebrow. “Jackson-hyung?”

Bambam nods as he pockets his phone and starts heading towards the direction of the café. “The one and only. He’s not alone though. Jinyoung and another guy are there too, guess who else is with them?” his best friend asks, tone very amused and mischievous.

“Mark-hyung?”

“Lol no. Try again.”

Yugyeom snorts. “Did you just say LOL out loud?”

Bambam slaps his arm as they turn a corner to reach the western exit of the campus. “Stop changing the subject, try again.”

Yugyeom wracks his brain at who Bambam means. All of their friends have gone to Def at one point or another, especially because Jaebeom—the owner—is one of their close friends.

Jackson likes to go there all the time because he thinks the coffee there is the best and because he’s known Jaebeom the longest. Mark and Jinyoung like to stay there after modeling gigs, Jinyoung because he enjoys the ambiance and Mark because he likes hanging out with his friends. He and Bambam also like to go here once in a while, mostly to annoy Jaebeom into giving them free drinks but sometimes just to hang out.

The only person he knows hasn’t even stepped foot in Def was Youngjae because he had such an obvious crush on Jaebeom. He can’t form two sentences without stuttering like a fool so he’d opted not to be near his object of affections as much as possible—only really basking in his presence when they all meet up.

If Yugyeom thought about it, the change in his barely-even-a-hyung’s personality was pretty funny because he knows how conniving and manipulative Youngjae could be when he gets competitive. Still, he knows his extreme shyness towards Jaebeom is real so he finds it difficult to think that he would step inside Def willingly.

It couldn’t be Youngjae… could it?

“Is it…” he hesitates as they cross the street. “Is it Youngjae-hyung?”

“No, it couldn’t be,” Bambam replies, voice dripping with sarcasm. “And yet…”

He pauses as they open the doors to the café, and at a table, on the far corner to the left, he sees Jackson, Jinyoung, and a very, very flustered Youngjae in between them.

“He is here,” his best friend declares with a dramatic flair, mouth in a wide grin as he strides over their table, Yugyeom following him from behind.

“This is a stupid idea,” is the first thing Yugyeom hears as he nears his friends’ table.

Jackson pouts at Jinyoung and proceeds to playfully slap his arm. “Be more respectful to your hyung! I’m only trying to help!”

Said man roll his eyes at the older, clearly exasperated at the situation.

“Fine,” he retorts, “This is a stupid idea, HYUNG.”

Youngjae is looking between them and also around himself like a deer in headlights. Yugyeom thinks that he’s probably thinking of ways to stop the two from causing a commotion while also looking for Jaebeom and not freak out.

He would slightly feel bad for his friend if his frantic demeanor wasn’t so adorable.

“Jackson-hyung,” he whispers as he forcefully grabs the older man’s arm, stopping him from his small argument with Jinyoung. “H-hyung this is a bad idea, can I go? I think I’d just like to not be here and make a fool of myself.”

Bambam runs over to squeeze himself next to Jackson so he could reach Youngjae’s face and pinch his cheeks. “You can’t leave yet! We just got here!”

“Bambam?” Youngjae eyes him curiously.

“That’s right it’s Bambam! I brought the giant maknae too,” he points to the front of their table where Yugyeom was standing, waving at all three of them.

Jinyoung’s expression changes as he looks at Yugyeom, almost surprised he’s even there and also… something in his sudden shift of demeanor tells him he might not want him here.

When he thinks about it, the last time they ever hung out together was when they watched dramas at his place. When he bared his soul and played the song he made…

He hugged him that time, it was… nice.

His thoughts are interrupted when he hears Jinyoung’s signature sigh.

“Please don’t tell me you’ve invited Dumbass 1 and Dumbass 2 to this already stupid plan,” Jinyoung deadpans.

Before Jackson could get a word in edgewise, Bambam pipes up:

“I better be Dumbass 1…”

This surprises Yugyeom. “Wait, why would I be Dumbass 2?”

“Because you’re younger!”

Yugyeom scoffs. “Barely, we’re the same age! And I’m taller than you, that has to account for something.”

“What it doesn’t account for is your dumbassery. Just be number 2!” Bambam retorts.

He vehemently shakes his head. Everyone always assumes he’s always the second, just because Bambam formulates and spearheads their not-always-crazy plans sometimes, doesn’t mean he can’t be number one.

“I was an honors student throughout high school!” he argues.

“Well, I speak three languages!”

“It doesn’t matter if you suck at all three of them!”

Bambam raises an eyebrow. “How can you possibly know that when your ass can’t even understand Thai or English?”

Yugyeom’s cheeks darken, embarrassed that his best friend is right. Honestly, this is just arguing to win and he doesn’t want to lose.

“I-I know some English words!”

“All of which, you learned from me!”

Yugyeom continues to argue Bambam’s claim to be number one, in the background he thinks he hears Youngjae and Jackson discussing why they’re arguing about who’s the first and second dumbass and not about being called a dumbass in general.

Their back-and-forth gets cuts shorts when he hears, “God, this is why you’re both single. No one can love this much stupidity…”

He and Bambam look towards Jinyoung as he’s lazily watching the both of them, seemingly bored and annoyed at the same time. He thinks Jinyoung is the only person who could ever pull off such an expression.

Yugyeom isn’t going to lie… that hurt. He has been single for a long time now, it was his choice to not date anyone even though there have been opportunities to do so, but to hear Jinyoung tell him no one could love him is…

He hears Bambam clear his throat.

“Those are lying lies my hyung,” he says with his arms crossed and his head tilted in confidence, “I’m lovable as fuck! Plus, I know people who are into Yugyeom, maybe even madly in love too.”

All eyes land on Bambam, confused and intrigued. The attention seemingly fueling the satisfied grin on his face.

“You do?” Yugyeom and Jinyoung say at the same time.

Bambam winks at the maknae. “Of course, I do. I might even introduce you to them after… maybe.”

He hates that his best friend knows just how easily intrigued he can get. Now that he has this hanging over his head, he’s going to want to know these people. Not even to think about dating them—he could never, not with his current feelings as it is—but more just idle curiosity.

“Ah! Bambam,” he whines, “Tell me!”

His best friend smirks. “Admit you’re Dumbass 2.”

He had a feeling Bambam would do something like this, damn him and his clever brain. A true feat for Dumbass 1.

“That’s low,” he grumbles.

Bambam shrugs.

Yugyeom sighs.

“Ugh fine, I’m Dumbass 2,” he mumbles, a pout already forming on his face. He thinks he hears Jackson coo about how cute he is.

“Who are they?” Jinyoung’s voice suddenly enters their conversation.

The younger man hears the hardened tone in the older man’s voice, he sounds angry. Yugyeom could understand annoyed but why does he sound so pissed off?

Bambam doesn’t seem fazed, a lazy smirk falling over his face.

“What was that, hyung?” he asks in such a nonchalant manner.

He doesn’t understand how but the atmosphere has changed. It’s tense, even when he and Bambam were arguing it wasn’t intense at all. He’s confused but it seems that the others understand what’s happening as he’s the only one who seems bewildered.

“You said people, who?”

Bambam hums. “I know like six people.”

“Names, Bambam,” he demands.

The white-haired man shrugs. “Why? Does it matter who it is, hyung?”

He doesn’t understand why his best friend’s voice sounds so challenging like he’s expecting something. Yugyeom doesn’t fully understand how the conversation even got here, although it is strange that his hyung is as curious as he is on the people who like him.

Was it so unbelievable that maybe six people wanted to date him? He knows he’s not model material like actual model Jinyoung but he doesn’t think he’s that ugly.

Anyway, why should it even bother his hyung? Why does he seem so irritated by it? Jinyoung is just an enigma sometimes, he wishes he were as open as the books he likes to read.

Jinyoung takes a deep breath and shakes his head.

“…it doesn’t.”

Jackson claps and startles Yugyeom out of his thoughts. “Okay, enough about Yugyeom’s soon-to-be-love-life! We’re focusing on Youngjae’s sooner-to-be-love-life! Operation: JaeJae Ship is a go! Let the planning commence!”

The two boys find seats and they all huddle in the table. Yugyeom looks around and can’t help but notice that Jaebeom wasn’t around, he’s always here—at least in the days that he decides to drop by—not just because he owns this café but also because the second floor was also his studio.

Maybe he was out on an errand? Doesn’t he have employees for that?

“…it’s simple acting! I know you were a theater kid Jinyoung, don’t lie to me!” Yugyeom hears the tail-end of Jackson’s rant.

He needs to stop spacing out.

Jinyoung is glaring at the other man, to no effect, but he ends up sighing. He spares Yugyeom a glance and he immediately gets flustered—not only because he hasn’t exactly been listening but also the older man’s eyes always seem so intense. He doesn’t understand why Jinyoung would even look at him, let alone seem like he wants Yugyeom’s opinion on whatever they’re doing—but his gaze shifts to Youngjae.

“Youngjae… do you really want to do this?” Jinyoung asks so softly as if he speaks any louder, he would freak out.

Youngjae visibly stiffens as everyone’s eyes are on him. Yugyeom doesn’t really know the context of the situation—he wasn’t listening, he should really stop doing that—but he does notice him run his hands on his hair a lot more times than necessary.

“I…” he mutters softly, everyone straining their ears to even hear the word. “I want to tell Jaebeom-hyung what I feel… Jackson-hyung said there was a chance he likes me back—”

“There’s at least a 90% chance that Jaebeom is also in love with Youngjae,” Jackson interjects proudly but immediately deflates after seeing Jinyoung glare towards him again.

Youngjae nods, seemingly fine with being interrupted by the talkative man next to him.

“I don’t want to regret it, you know? I just… I want to see if I have a chance, I guess…” he scratches his cheek in embarrassment and Yugyeom can’t help but think that his hyung is brave, well a lot braver than he’ll ever be.

Yugyeom sees Jinyoung crinkle his nose in the way that means that he’s thinking hard about something—it’s not strange that he notices these things, he can be really perceptive if he wants to _shut up, Bambam_ —before he nods and slumps in his seat.

“Ah, alright. I’ll do it,” he begrudgingly says, Bambam and Jackson whooping after hearing his answer.

“Awesome! Gyeom and I will get into position. Jackson-hyung needs to call Jaebeom-hyung and Mark-hyung and Youngjae, if you get embarrassed or shy just hide your face in Jinyoung’s shoulder, it’ll make it even more believable that you guys are dating.”

Wait, what was that?

Before Yugyeom could ask for clarification, Bambam bodily drags him to an adjacent table and pushes him to the seat next to his.

He immediately takes out his phone, pursing his lip. “Gyeom… you think Haohao and Kookie would be down to skip class for something like this?”

“What? Why would we need them? And while we’re at it, Youngjae and Jinyoung are dating?”

Bambam sends him a mischievous look, never a good sign on his best friend’s face.

“Why?” He asks in such a deceptively innocent tone. “Are you jealous?”

Yugyeom splutters. He’s not. He knows that he’s held a crush on Jinyoung for some months now—14 months, which is essentially a year and 2 months but who’s counting really—but it’s not enough to warrant him to get jealous. He doesn’t even have the right to do that.

“N-no!” he yells, ducking his head when he noticed other people in the café turn in their direction.

“I…I just,” he continues in a much quieter voice, “Youngjae’s into Jaebeom-hyung so it’s weird that they’re dating.”

The white-haired man scoffs. “They’re not actually dating, stupid. Didn’t you listen?”

Yugyeom doesn’t answer. Bambam gives him a look, it was his unimpressed look that was mixed with a little amusement, raising an eyebrow when the younger man ducks his head down further and his cheeks start to pink.

“Dude, stop thinking about Jinyoung’s dick all the time. It’s not healthy,” he mutters so nonchalantly that it causes Yugyeom to get even redder.

“I wasn’t!”

Bambam sighs. “Gist of it is Jinyoung is going to pretend that he’s into Youngjae and he’s going to ask Jaebeom’s help because they’re best friends and he’s like the big brother or whatever. Then you, me, and Jackson are gonna go _hey, Jinyoung and Youngjae look like a cute couple_ to Jaebeom—I know, it’s painful but you gotta act your part Gyeomie.”

“What? I didn’t even—”

The other man continues, completely ignoring Yugyeom. “After that, we both leave, I’ll just tell him we’re meeting the other 97 Liners or something, don’t worry about that. When Beomie looks all troubled by the news, Jinyoung spills coffee on himself—this is the cue—and Jackson helps and they leave Youngjae and Jaebeom alone where Youngjae can tell him what he feels!”

Yugyeom furrows his brows in trying to digest all the information. “This sounds like a stupid and confusing plan.”

His best friend smiles in that mischievous way again. “It IS a stupid and confusing plan.”

“If you knew that, why did you agree with this?” he asks, genuinely confused.

“Because… it’s a stupid and confusing plan,” he says as if it’s the most obvious answer in the world.

Yugyeom purses his lip. There is no possible way that this plan is going to work, Jinyoung might be a good actor (Yugyeom was invited in a play he acted in once, he knows he’s an amazing actor) but this whole idea is just too convoluted to even be feasible.

Does Youngjae even know how to act?

How would Jaebeom even react to Youngjae’s feelings if he thinks he and Jinyoung are dating?

Why is it so important that he’s here anyway?

A part of him feels like he should’ve just stayed in the lecture hall, backpack be damned.

“…this isn’t going to work is it?”

“It will.” The man next to him smirks. “Just… not in the way you think.”

Bambam seems to be enjoying himself more than he should, already watching the front door of the café, waiting for Jaebeom to show up and set this whole thing in motion.

Yugyeom looks around and he sees Youngjae and Jinyoung huddled together, talking quietly amongst themselves. They’re pretty… close. Youngjae is whispering something in the other man’s ear and he can see the eye wrinkles form as Jinyoung smiles at him. They seem to be playing around, happy.

There’s a heavy feeling weighing on his stomach but he writes off the reason being he forgot to eat breakfast.

God, he hasn’t eaten lunch either. Maybe he can wheedle food out of Bambam after this whole thing since he’s making him participate in such a stupid plan.

Although, he does hope that it will work like Bambam said, for no other reason than to see Youngjae be that close to Jaebeom like he wants to.

_And maybe,_ the depths of his mind whispers, _Jinyoung and I could be …_

The younger man breaks out of his stupor when he sees Jisung—one of Jaebeom’s baristas—approach their table.

“What’s up hyungs?” he says, pointing finger guns at both of them, the both of them immediately returning the gesture.

Bambam smiles at the younger man. “Hey Jisung-ah, we’re good. What’s up with you?”

He sheepishly scratches the back of his neck. “Well,” he says, “You see Jimin-noona told us people have to order if they wanna stay here and since you guys are chilling inside the café, I’m gonna need you to cough up some money and get a drink.”

“Oh no problem, I’ll get an Iced Americano,” Bambam then points to Yugyeom. “Big baby over there would like your best chocolate shake.”

He pouts, which doesn’t really help with the whole _baby_ nickname. “I’m not a baby,” he whines.

Bambam laughs. “Sure you aren’t, you’re a Big Baby.”

Yugyeom balls up one of the tissues and throws it at Bambam’s face, making his best friend splutter.

“Oh my god, you child!” he yells, throwing the balled-up tissue back at Yugyeom and missing completely.

The younger man sticks out his tongue, giggling as Bambam tries to slap his shoulder to get him back and managing to duck away even as they’re seated next to each other. It devolves into a war of Yugyeom throwing random things that were on the table at Bambam and the other man trying to throw them back but surprisingly missing every time.

When their impromptu fight has stopped and both men have dissolved into a fit of giggles, Bambam locks Yugyeom’s head under his arm while his own wrap around his best friend’s torso. It was then that they noticed Jisung had already left their table. Yugyeom looks around the café to find any sign of Jaebeom and instead, he sees Jinyoung glaring their way before schooling his expression to back to a soft smile as he returns his gaze to Youngjae.

If Yugyeom didn’t know that he was a good actor, he would’ve thought that he imagined the glare. He wonders if he’s disappointed him as he isn’t taking this plan seriously— because he’s not, it’s a stupid plan even by Yugyeom’s standards—and he really doesn’t like the feeling that he’s upset Jinyoung somehow.

The once vibrant laughter peters out as he untangles himself from his best friend, the other man seemingly puzzled by his sudden change in demeanor. He doesn’t tell him but he feels like his best friend understands anyway as he pats him on the shoulder twice before leaning on him. It was his way of silently comforting Yugyeom and it brings a small smile to his face.

They both quietly wait for their drinks and also Jaebeom. Yugyeom still doesn’t really understand the whole point of him being here. His whole part is just telling Jaebeom that he approves of Jinyoung and Youngjae dating, he doesn’t but it’s not like they would need his confirmation anyway, and walk off like nothing happened.

He could literally just be dozing off at the lecture hall right now, maybe after he’d ask Jeongguk and Minghao to hang out. They’d all go to the mall and eat, Jeongguk would challenge them to a DDR match and he would win because he’s Jeongguk, after they’d walk Minghao back to campus and take him back to his dorms, Yugyeom and Jeongguk would return to their shared apartment, and they’d pester their new roommate Hyunggu in going to the convenience store with them and stuff their faces with ramyeon.

Or he could bypass all of that and Yugyeom would just go back home and roll around in bed in his underwear while crying about the newest drama he’ll watch. Honestly, both options seem better than having to watch Youngjae and Jinyoung act in love with each other.

Jisung quickly serves their drinks, unsubtly sliding the receipt in between them, and tells them to enjoy before walking over to another table that had just filled.

It’s been about twenty or so minutes and Jackson hasn’t come back from wherever he went off to call the hyungs, Yugyeom wants to go home and wallow at his all-around singleness and unwillingness to date because of some weird thing he feels around Jinyoung ~~(love, he’s in love and he can never admit it and will gladly drop dead with this secret forever in his brain)~~ , Bambam looks somewhat worried for his best friend but also there’s an evil glint in his eye that worries Yugyeom a little—actually a lot—and of course there’s Youngjae and Jinyoung that seem like they’re three inches away from getting married.

He takes a sip of his chocolate shake, relishing the cold and sweet drink on his tongue, before he breaks out of his stupor from his friend hitting his shoulder.

Bambam whispers, “Showtime Big Baby, J-man is here.”

Like clockwork, Jaebeom opens the door of the café with Jackson in tow. They seem to be in deep conversation, Yugyeom sees the older man with his brows knitted and Jackson also looks a little apologetic. He wishes he can hear what they’re talking about.

“What are we supposed to do again?” he asks.

Bambam shrugs. “We’ll wing it, just follow my lead.”

His best friend stands and walks up to their older friends, Yugyeom also standing and following behind him. He takes another glance at _the couple_ and he sees Jinyoung’s arm wrapped around a very frazzled Youngjae.

God, this isn’t going to work at all.

“Hyungs! Lovely to see you here at the splendid Def!” Bambam announces, smiling at both Jaebeom and Jackson.

He sees the shorter man giggle at his best friend’s antics and Jaebeom raising a suspicious eyebrow at him.

“Uh… thank you for welcoming me in my own café, Bambam,” Jaebeom tells him slowly, as if conveying that he is confused at the younger man’s behavior.

Yugyeom feels the urge to rub his temples at just how clearly Bambam seems to be up to something. Not even a minute into this plan and they’re already failing.

Bambam doesn’t seem fazed by Jaebeom’s reaction and continues smiling. “Soooo…” he sings-songs the word, “What are you doing here?”

“Bambam, I own this café,” he says flatly.

“That you do, but owners don’t need to be here all the time!”

Jaebeom looks at Jackson—who has surprisingly already schooled his expression into neutrality—and the other man shrugs at Bambam’s behavior.

“Bambam, is there something you want to tell me?” the older man asks, straight-to-the-point.

The Thai boy’s grin turns mischievous, eyes glinting with playful yet dangerous energy.

“Oh hyung,” he sighs, draping an arm over Jaebeom’s shoulders, “You haven’t heard the big news?”

Yugyeom sees his hyung trying his best to quell the urge to either roll his eyes or push Bambam away, and he honestly empathizes with him.

Jaebeom sighs. “No Bambam, I haven’t heard the big news,” he replies in a put-upon voice.

Jackson clicks his tongue at the same time that Bambam dramatically spins to face his older hyung.

“Hyung,” he says in a voice that sounds sincere and apologetic, alerting both Yugyeom and Jaebeom. “I’m so sorry but it seems that Youngjae-ssi has moved on.”

Jaebeom’s brows furrow. “What do you mean?”

Bambam moves slightly to his left and points at the table where the faux couple is currently occupying. They all glance at them and it seems that Jinyoung is whispering something to the visibly blushing Youngjae, the younger man seemingly getting redder the more they stare. They’re not looking their way though, still in their own little world.

They do look adorable together, if one thinks that he’s blushing because of what Jinyoung is whispering to him and not because he’s probably seen Jaebeom in his peripheral vision.

“See,” Bambam tells the older man, “He and Jinyoung-hyung are dating now.”

Jaebeom seems troubled, visibly upset by the whole thing, but then he moves his gaze to Yugyeom. The younger man’s eyes widen as Jaebeom looks at him with a sad and sympathetic stare.

“You’re… but Jinyoung likes—” he stops himself, realizing what he was about to say.

Unfortunately, this garners the attention of both Jackson and Bambam who crowd around Jaebeom. Well, it also piques Yugyeom’s attention but he’s more worried about Jaebeom’s expression when he stared at him.

Does he know?

Bambam knows. And he knows Bambam tells Mark and Jackson everything. He also knows that Jackson tends to spill secrets to Jaebeom. He could know…

…and it wasn’t like he was hiding his crush on Jinyoung anyway.

“Oh, hyung you never told me you knew who Jinyoung likes?” Jackson asks.

“Who is it, hyung?” Bambam asks.

Jaebeom shakes his head. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. If they’re both in a happy relationship, we should support it since we’re all friends.”

Jackson hums. “Good dodge, but seriously, who’s Jinyoung into?”

“Can’t tell you, that’s not my place to say,” he tells them, “although, I would like to talk to him… maybe after their date.”

Bambam nods. “Cool, cool, cool… so, you don’t want to tell Youngjae what you feel?”

Jaebeom moves his gaze to Yugyeom again, as if silently asking him if he was okay with the whole thing… and Yugyeom—not knowing what to do in such a situation, he’s supposed to lie to his hyung but he doesn’t think he can lie about his feelings when practically everyone but Jinyoung knows he ~~loves~~ likes him—coughs into his hand and discreetly looks away.

“I… uh… I’m gonna go pay our drinks, Bammie.”

He doesn’t wait for an answer as he practically speed-walks to the counter, a large, forced smile on his face as he greets Jisung.

“How much were our drinks, Jisung-ah?” he asks the currently puzzled-but-also-a-little-frightened barista.

The younger man rummages for the shop’s copy of their receipt and tells Yugyeom the exact amount, the latter not really paying attention as he hands him his card.

He’s trying to resist looking back at the plan that might or might not be going as Jackson intended even if he is curious. Jisung returns his card without any problems and he walks to the bathroom to think of a way that he can somehow sneak out without anyone noticing.

He thought that he would get away with not really having much to do in this plan but with how Jaebeom has been giving him looks and waiting for his answers, he doesn’t think he can continue. Yugyeom’s never been able to hide his feelings for anyone—every relationship he’s ever been in, the person he liked would go up to him and ask if they haven’t misread their affections—even the very last girlfriend he had. She knew when he found out that she didn’t love him anymore. She knew because the hurt was written on his face. They would know because of how open he is with his emotions.

It's one of the reasons why he hasn’t even tried to pursue Jinyoung. He hasn’t said anything to Yugyeom but everyone knows how he feels about him because he can never be subtle. To Yugyeom, Jinyoung might already know and he’s ignoring it to spare his feelings or he is secretly cruel and leading him on forever. He doesn’t believe the other option, not really, but it helps with keeping his affections in check.

God, does he even want to date Jinyoung?

(The answer is yes, of course. For one, Jinyoung is probably the most handsome man he’s ever laid his eyes on. For another, he’s learned and gotten to know his hyung and everything appealed to him, even his most glaring flaws. He’s harbored a crush for a year and change and the feeling hasn’t waned even a little.)

These are not thoughts he should be having in a café bathroom while essentially hiding from his friends. This is the kind of conversation that he needs to have in his apartment, no Jeongguk nor Hyunggu in sight, just him surrounded by his caterpillar pillow and Moomin plushies as he tells them in full detail that trying to even think about pursuing Jinyoung is a bad idea.

He needs to leave.

He needs to talk to his Moomin.

They need to save him from the mess that is his love life.

The odds are stacked against him: he’s taller than most people, his hair is currently blonde so he can’t exactly mix in with the crowd of people who mostly have black hair—curse the general populace for not wanting to kill their hair with bleach—also, he chose to wear his yellow and black striped sweater today.

Yugyeom is way too colorful to not be noticed by any of his friends.

Maybe if he runs?

No, they’d notice someone running to the exit. It’s a fairly small café.

He looks around the bathroom and sees only one window by the sinks that not even Mark could crawl through.

“I guess I just have to suck it up then,” he mumbles to himself as he walks out of the stall he’s semi-hiding into.

He washes his hands, taking his time with rubbing the soap on each finger and rinsing. He closes his eyes and slowly lets out a long breath.

Then he immediately jumps as arms suddenly wrap around his middle. He manages to contain his scream to a small squeak as he turns and sees Mark behind him, grinning proudly.

“Hyung, you scared me!” he whines, flicking water on his hyung’s face in retaliation.

Mark only chuckles in response, wiping his face on the back of Yugyeom’s sweater. “You scared me with that depressing expression I saw in the mirror.”

Yugyeom sighs. “Hyung…”

Mark turns him around and pats his cheek. “What’s wrong with my little brother, huh?”

The younger man can’t help but laugh at Mark’s pouting face. “Hyung, I’m taller than you.”

“Yeah, and yet you’re still such a big baby,” Mark says, dodging another flick of water to his face, “So, mind telling the older brother what’s been bothering you?”

Yugyeom looks around the area and eyes the door. “Can we go out of the bathroom first? It’s weird to talk about personal things near the toilets.”

They go out of the bathroom together, Mark’s arm wrapped around his own, when they see Jinyoung and Jaebeom in one corner of the room, talking intensely. They seem to be following the plan as Jinyoung has his mug of coffee, poised to spill it on himself. Youngjae is still seated in the same seat, nervously clutching his own drink while Bambam and Jackson are seated with him, clearly enjoying everything that’s happening.

“Wow, this looks surprisingly like it’s working…” Mark mutters to him.

Yugyeom nods.

The older man then directs their way to where the others were seating grabbing nearby chairs and sitting next to each other. Mark hasn’t unwound his arm from his own, and now he’s leaning his head on his shoulder.

“Hyung, what’s with you today?” Yugyeom asks, smiling at Mark’s unintentional(?) cuteness.

Mark shrugs. “I just missed my big baby.”

Yugyeom shakes his head. “I’m not a child, hyung.”

“Nope,” Mark agrees, “You’re not a child. You’re a baby, you’re my baby.”

Mark stretches up and kisses him on the cheek, surprising Yugyeom into looking at the older man. Just as he was about to ask why he did it, they hear glass shattering in front of them. All four of them see Jinyoung fuming, glaring— at Mark? Or is it him? —and his mug is shattered on the floor, spilling his coffee everywhere.

“Jinyoung! What the fuck?” Jaebeom yells.

“I’ll pay for it later.” Jinyoung huffs and walks out of the scene.

Yugyeom watches as the older man strides towards the door and after a beat, he stands as well. He… he doesn’t know why but he feels like he should. He should talk to Jinyoung, find out what’s wrong. He’s been acting strange since he was here.

“Gyeomie?” Mark asks.

The younger man nods. “I’ll go talk to him, hyung.”

Yugyeom jogs after Jinyoung, not noticing the smiles that his friends were sporting as he leaves.

“Jinyoung-hyung!” he calls. Jinyoung stops for a moment, before shaking his head and continues to walk away from him.

Yugyeom sighs but moves closer to the older man. “Hyung! Jinyoungie, please stop!”

Surprisingly, he listens to Yugyeom and stops but he doesn’t turn around or acknowledge him.

_Still, it’s better than having to chase him all day_ , Yugyeom thinks as he closes the gap and puts his hand on Jinyoung’s shoulder.

“What the hell do you want, Yugyeom?” he spits out.

Yugyeom tries not to flinch at the sound of his anger but it’s a little difficult when it’s from the person he likes and it’s directed at him.

Now that he’s here… he doesn’t exactly know what to say.

What happened?

Why was he so hostile?

Why did he keep glaring at him when Yugyeom was having fun?

Why did he stop hanging out with him?

What did Yugyeom even do?

Why…

“Jinyoungie, why do you hate me so much?” he blurts out, his voice cracking at the end because of the unexpected emotion that built up.

This surprises Jinyoung and he turns to face him, Yugyeom dropping his hand from his shoulder.

“You… you think I hate you?” Jinyoung asks, voice surprisingly soft considering how angry he was not too long ago.

“It’s hard not to!” Yugyeom ducks his head, unable to meet the eyes of the man who hates him. “Y-you keep glaring at me when I’m not even doing anything, you called me a dumbass, an unlovable one at that… a-and you never seem to like it when I’m around and—”

He hiccups, not noticing that he was actually crying. It felt like the balloon has burst and his feelings just flooded out, his emotions for the frustrating and confusing enigma that is Park Jinyoung.

“Ah, man… why am I even crying?” he berates himself, wiping his cheek with the sleeve of his sweater.

Jinyoung moves closer to him, hands hovering before it lands on his face. He raises the younger man’s head so that their eyes meet. Yugyeom sees the pain that’s swirling through Jinyoung’s eyes, like he truly sorry for what he's done, like Yugyeom matters to him.

For someone good at acting, Yugyeom always seems to read Jinyoung’s thoughts with just his eyes. He’s not as expressive as Yugyeom, but his eyes always tell him what he’s actually feeling.

The older man wipes some of his tears off with his thumb. “I’m sorry, I… I didn’t mean for you to think that I hate you, Yugyeom-ah.”

Yugyeom tries to duck his head down again, but Jinyoung’s grip is strong, so he just settles for looking down and shaking his head.

“I… I know hyung. It was stupid, we’re friends. I know you don’t hate me, I’m sorry.”

“No… don’t apologize. I—it’s… Yugyeom I don’t hate you. I want you to know that,” he says, voice tense and determined. He runs his hands down his arms and holds Yugyeom’s hands in his own.

“Yes, I know hyung. It was just—”

“I don’t want you to make excuses for me. I’ve treated you poorly and that’s not right.”

“Hyung…”

“Yugyeom, look at me,” he commands and he seems so serious that it was almost automatic that he lifted his head and meet Jinyoung’s eyes.

“I don’t hate you Yugyeom. I… I could never hate you, never you.” he whispers, as if Yugyeom was the only person who is meant to hear it.

The younger man can’t help but feel his cheeks heat at the words.

“I… I know hyung. I know you don’t,” he mutters.

Jinyoung sighs. “Look… the truth is…” He bites his lip, as if warring with himself if he wants to spill whatever it is to him or not.

“Hyung you don’t have to tell me anything.” He’s giving him an out, he doesn’t even know if he wants to hear whatever it is Jinyoung has to say. “It’s okay, I understand. I was blowing it out of proportion…”

Jinyoung shakes his head. “No… no, you weren’t. It wasn’t because I didn’t want you around, I was avoiding you Yugyeom.”

The confession makes Yugyeom flinch. If he doesn’t hate him but he was avoiding him… then…

“…why?”

Jinyoung takes a breath and his grip on his hands tightened.

“I want you to promise something before I say anything,” he tells him. Yugyeom nods his affirmation. “I don’t want anything to change between us after this, okay? I… I still want us to be friends, even… even if—just… promise me, please?”

Yugyeom is confused but the pained expression on Jinyoung’s face was enough of a tell that this was important.

“Okay, hyung. I promise.”

Jinyoung searches his face for lies, before he moves closer, their chests barely an inch apart.

“The truth is…” Jinyoung whispers, “I… I love you, Yugyeom.”

Yugyeom takes a step back, surprised at what Jinyoung said to him.

“W-what?”

Jinyoung sighs, his eyes downcast as he lets go of the younger man’s hands.

“I love you… I avoided you because I was afraid to tell you. I was angry because I wanted you.” Yugyeom’s already red face darkens further when he hears those words.

“I wanted to be the one to make you laugh, not Bambam. I wanted to be the one to kiss you on the cheek, not Mark… I was angry because I couldn’t have you,” he chuckles to himself, as if he couldn’t believe that he’s sharing all of this to Yugyeom.

Jinyoung meets his eyes again, this time disappointment wafting through him in waves.

“I…”

The older man shakes his head. “You don’t need to say anything. I just wanted to clear the air.”

“Y-you’re not joking, are you hyung?” he asks.

He couldn’t help but ask. It’s just… all this time. The person he’s wanted in the entire world loves him back, this can’t be true. The universe must be playing some kind of sick joke, Yugyeom was never this lucky.

Jinyoung looks almost offended by the question. “I’m not joking, you brat. I really am in love with you, okay?”

Yugyeom feels so relieved that he starts laughing. Jinyoung, not knowing what’s going on, pushes the other man. “Jesus, I get it. It’s funny, if you’re going to reject me at least—”

It’s Yugyeom’s turn to shake his head. “Me? Reject you? Jinyoungie, you have no idea how happy you’ve made me feel!”

Jinyoung raises an eyebrow at the younger man. “What?”

Yugyeom smiles at him and runs into his arms, almost making him lose his balance. The younger man hides his face on Jinyoung’s shoulder and wraps his arms around his waist. He feels Jinyoung’s own arms wrap around him and his smile gets even wider.

“I… I love you too, hyung.”

“What?” Jinyoung asks again.

Yugyeom nods, his head still on his shoulder. “I love you. For… for a while now.”

Whatever tension Jinyoung had on his body seems to have melted when he heard the words from Yugyeom’s mouth, the younger still chuckling at how surreal this is.

“Yugyeom-ah,” Jinyoung calls.

“Hmm?”

Jinyoung takes his head in his hands and moves him away from his shoulder.

“I want to kiss you,” he says.

Yugyeom’s cheeks flush and he nods.

Jinyoung pulls him down and their lips meet for the first time.

It was just their lips touching, as chaste as they come, but it was the best kiss he could ever receive. Jinyoung, Park Jinyoung is really kissing him.

The older man moves away for a few seconds just to smile at him, the eye wrinkles in full view, before he pulls him back in for another kiss.

Just as Jinyoung’s hand starts traveling from his face to his chest, he hears very familiar voices hollering from behind them.

They break apart and turn to see all five of their friends clapping at their display of affection. Yugyeom also notices Youngjae in front of Jaebeom with the older man’s arms around him.

Bambam and Jackson high-five each other.

“Operation: JinGyeom Ship success!”

Jinyoung glares at them. “I thought the plan was Youngjae and Jaebeom.”

Jackson scratches the back of his head with a sheepish smile on his face.

“I… uh… forgot to mention that Youngjae and Jaebeom have been dating for like three weeks now.”

Yugyeom splutters at that, “What? But Youngjae-hyung was…”

“Jaebeom-hyung was the one who confessed actually, it was great!” he says, smiling widely.

"You were acting the whole time!"

Youngjae nods. "I was pretty surprised I fooled you, I was really exaggerating there," he chuckles.

“Why didn’t you say anything to me?” Jinyoung demands, his glare now towards Jaebeom.

The older man raises his hands in defense. “Jackson told me to keep it a secret! He bribed me with meat! That shit is expensive, I couldn’t say no.”

“You’re richer than me!” Jinyoung clicks his tongue. “This is a betrayal.”

“No, it’s not because we finally got your stubborn asses together!” Jackson shouts, “Up top, Bambam!”

The younger boy enthusiastically giving him the high-five.

“I can’t believe you guys…” Yugyeom mutters.

“You should be thanking us and Jackson-hyung’s super confusing plan,” Bambam argues, “but whatever, I at least don’t have to suffer from Yugyeom crying about Jinyoung anymore.”

“Bambam!”

Jinyoung snorts. “You cry about me?”

Yugyeom whines, “Not the time!”

“Congratulations to the new couple!” Mark says, clapping again. “Let’s eat meat! Jaebeom’s paying!”

Jaebeom was about to argue but everyone else’s enthusiastic agreements drowned out his dissent.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, comments, constructive criticisms and/or corrections are very much appreciated!


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